STATCOUNTER

October 2016

My favorite restaurant meal was a cassoulet, in a long gone Paris restaurant. (Though the name of the restaurant escapes me, the memory of the dish still sticks.) The point of this little exercise, however, is not really about your meal.

It was triggered by an article by a friend, Susan Ragusa. She is a nonprofit strategist, and, among other writings, has a bi-monthly newsletter with offerings of quick-read resources. One of her recent links was to an article in the Wall Street Journal about the benefits of small talk. And though it did not specifically address those networking meetings we all go to—with varying degrees of enthusiasm—it did make several points that would be useful when networking.

One thought was to embrace ignorance, since small talk is an opportunity to learn something new, and can keep a conversation going. For one example, I have no idea if Susan’s bimonthly newsletter comes out every two weeks, or every two months. And I can’t wait to discuss this with her.

My favorite piece of advice, which quoted Chris Colin, was to ask interesting questions. “There’s always a path from generic small talk to something more memorable,” says Mr. Colin. If someone says, “It sure is cold,” you can ask, “What’s the coldest you’ve ever been?”

What I particularly liked about that approach is it makes so much more sense than my usual reply, which is along the lines of, “Yes, and tomorrow is supposed to be colder/warmer.” Which usually shuts the conversation down rather quickly. Mr. Colin’s method is a wonderful way to give the person you are talking to the opportunity to continue talking about their favorite person. And it is so much more inviting than the usual, “Do you go to many of these networking events?” Or the transparent suck-uppy, “Nice jacket.”

Today’s guest author is Carol Leifer. Though she is not getting paid, and, for that matter, is probably not even aware that I am quoting her, she will be getting a link to her book, my sincere thanks, and a chance to talk to an audience that completely agrees with her. And how often does that happen?

So, with no further ado, her quote:

“Being a writer on Seinfeld was all about one thing — the big idea. That was the currency that kept you afloat or got you tossed.

And don’t all businesses run on good ideas? Even if you’re just selling hot dogs, you need to come up with ways to make people want your hot dogs more than the other guy’s hot dogs (like, sell them with papaya juice).

Sure, in some workplaces you can get pretty far by clocking in on time, complimenting the boss’s tie and never using more than your allotment of paper clips. But whatever your profession, I bet that sooner or later a good idea will be the thing that gets you noticed.”

“My team and I worked for three weeks straight, holidays and every weekend, to get this done for you.” And then you present whatever it is you are going to present.And you know what? Your client doesn’t care how much blood, toil, tears and sweat (look it up) you put into what you have shown him. All he cares about is the result.

If, for example, it’s a new campaign for his Phufkel, the client isn’t really concerned if you had the idea a month ago or came up with it last night. How good the idea is that you are presenting is all that the client—and you—should focus on. And a really good client doesn’t care if you wow them with a high tech presentation or just show them rough squiggles and handwritten copy.

I guess all this just feeds into my passion for ideas, and a belief that if the idea is truly good, you don’t have to surround it with show biz to sell it.

That may be naïve, and I realize you have to set up the strategy and sell your idea, not just show it. There is nothing wrong with talking about the work you put in to get to your results. But it is, as usual, a matter of emphasis. The more you concentrate on the idea, rather than the effort it took to get you there, the better off you will be.

Do you really care how many takes it took for Tom Hanks to convince you that life is like a box of chocolate? Or how long it took me to write this blog? Yes, actions speak louder than words. And results speak even louder than actions.